Boring

I haven't posted in a while, but nothing of any real consequence has happened in my little corner of the universe worth posting about. Things have quite literally been rather boring these past few weeks. I suppose the only thing worth mentioning is I have finally worked out my race plan and fueling regimen for the Syllamo's Revenge endurance race. ... Okay, so things are more boring than I actually realized.

Tooling Around in Running Shoes.

After 40-miles of single-track endurance training yesterday, I slept late today and decided to go for a moderate recovery ride shortly after noon. My road bike just didn't appeal to me, and I certainly didn't want to ride the mountain bike. This left my cyclocross bike as the only logical option. I'm using the 'Cross bike as my commuter, so it has flat pedals on it. Being too damn lazy to change the pedals out, I decided to just go with the flow and ride with the flat pedals on it. Note the running shoes in the photo above.

I tooled around on some gravel road routes north of town, eventually working my way to the Abbeville loop.

Along the way, I crossed a nice little stream with a small rapids rolling over some tree stumps. I’m not sure why, but I find the sound of moving water very relaxing.

I saw this interesting phone booth at an abandoned gas station in Abbeville.

I don’t know what kind of flowers these are, but I could smell them from a rather long distance away.

Syllamo Practice

I went out to Clear Creek today to “train” for the upcoming Syllamo’s Revenge endurance race. My plan was to do a full 50 miles (5 loops), but figured 40 to be more realistic given how drained I felt before going out there. This time around, I decided to use my heart rate monitor to keep my pulse within a reasonable range, 130bpm to 160bpm. According a study on endurance performance I recently read, it is best to keep the heart rate below 75% of your VO2max because the gastric emptying rate is efficient and unimpeded up to 75%. In addition, Glycogen expense is also most efficient at 75% of VO2 Max. (Misner, 1998).

I also experimented a little with various fueling options for the race. I think going with Hammer Perpetium will be my best option. However, I’ll be limited to using it from a bottle since it tends to settle. I figure there will be an aid station every 16 miles, but I’d like to skip at least one of them to save time. I still need to work out the details on fueling.

The Numbers:
Distance: 41.17 miles
Time: 4:46.09
Average Speed: 8.63mph
Max Speed: 21.28mph

It was clean and shiny when I started.

2009 Chickasaw Trace Classic

As soon as I open the hotel room door, I go directly to the TV and start surfing for the Weather Channel. The 2009 Chickasaw Trace Classic looks to be a repeat of last year's mud festival, and I’m getting nervous. Several trips between the balcony to survey the sky and back to the television for more “local on the eights” have me feeling like a patient waiting for bad news from a lab test. I stopped by the race site to preregister and pick up my race number before arriving at the hotel. While there, I scouted a small section of the trail and it teetered on the verge of last year’s muckapalooza. It only needed an overnight drenching to become mud soup.



As I stand helpless on the balcony, the sky over Columbia fades from sunshine to a menacing gray. In an almost Biblical fashion, the developing clouds turn darker and unleash a depressing amount of rain. I can only hope everything will move through quickly and allow the trail to set up over night.



When I arrived at the park on race ray, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the storm from the night before moved off quickly and the trail settled overnight. All that remained behind was very cold temperatures and a few muddy places scattered along the trail. The race is on!

I find a spot in the middle of the front row and summon the powers of Geoff Kabush to see me through the race. When the horn sounds, one racer shoots off the line in a full sprint and opens an instant gap on everyone else. As the group makes the first soggy corner into an open field, the lead sprinter is now several seconds off the front and adding time with every pedal stroke. One other rider about 25 yards behind follows him into a screaming headwind. I find myself on the tail of a small chase group of five or six and decide to attack. I gradually open a gap on everyone in the chase group and eventually grab the wheel of the second racer in pursuit of the lead sprinter. With that catch, I make the single-track in the coveted third position. My heart now firmly lodged in my mouth and my lungs desperately grasping for oxygen, I can do little but hold on for dear life and wait for my pulse to come down to a more sustainable level. "It's a long race," I keep telling myself. "Just find a groove and settle in for the long haul."

As the trail progressively turns more tight and twisty, I hear a chorus of squealing brakes close behind and know my third place position is in jeopardy. I have the second place rider right in front of me, and can clearly see the sprinter through the trees. I start to relax and look for that groove again.

It isn’t long before our little train catches the tail end of the 30/39 group, which started two minutes ahead. Things now turn a little more confusing and tactical. The front of the 40/49 group slowly blends with members of the 30/39 group, which makes it virtually impossible to know who is who. I do my best to recall the various team kits from the start line, but eventually just determine everyone in front of me and everyone who passes me to be a competitor. By this time, I guess I am in the fifth or sixth position with at least three riders less than a minute behind. After finally finding a comfortable pace, I settle down and work on making it to the finish.

Everyone begins to string out a little more on the second lap, but I occasionally catch a glimpse of the racer from the Columbia Cycling Club a few seconds in front of me, so I know I'm at least in the top five. I manage to close the gap and grab his wheel in a few hilly sections, only to lose everything I worked for in others. I really start to worry when my left thigh cramps on a rather nasty, rock invested, climb. Now, there's really no excuse to cramp in 40-degree weather, other than I'm an idiot. I simply haven't learned to drink enough and subsequently have electrolyte problems. It's an ongoing drama with me. In any event, my left leg completely locks, and I'm stuck in the middle of this climb unable to move for several seconds. I turn to a photographer on the hill and say, "I can't move my leg. I'm stuck." Eventually, I manage to dismount by tossing a peg leg over the bike like a cycling pirate and hobble my way to the top. After remounting pirate style and continuing down the trail, I ever so slowly manage to work the stiffness out of my leg as I take up pursuit of the Columbia Cycling Club racer. By this time, he is out of sight and probably long gone, so I concentrate on keeping my pace up in hopes of not being passed by anyone down the trail from me. I continue toward the finish driven by the fear of blowing it at the very end. This eventually pays off when I spot the Columbia Cycling Club racer through the trees with about a 20 to 30 second time advantage. When we finally emerge from the woods into an open field, I start eating into his lead ever so slowly and hope to catch him on the final run to the line. His gap is down to about 15 seconds when we make the grassy uphill approach to the finish, but I realize the gap is too large when he makes the turn for the finish and I come in seven seconds later.

I finish the day with the forth place position and won a nice Nike Jersey for all my hard work.



Some race photos can be seen here.

"Weather" or Not

I don't know what or who to believe regarding the weather. I've been glued to the internet for the past two days following the weekend weather forecasts and always come away just as confused as before. It seems I might have better luck with the Farmer's Almanac or a crystal ball.


The National Weather Service, our nation's official weather forecasting agency, is calling for an 80% chance of severe thunderstorms on Saturday.


However, the fine folks over on the Weather Channel are calling for only a 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms on Saturday. What's up with that? Also, is there really a difference between "partly cloudy" and "partly sunny" or is it all just weatherman semantics? All I want to know is will the trail be a muddy mess on Sunday?


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(Monkey Edit) I checked the weekend weather forecast for Columbia, TN this morning (3/26) and the Weather Channel now has a 30% chance for isolated thunderstorms on Saturday and the National Weather Service has a 70% chance for thunderstorms. I'm sure it will change again before the day is over, so I give up. I'm checking the weather the day before the race and going with that, muddy trail or not.
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Prerace Maintenance

I decided to give my bike some prerace maintenance and a good cleaning before the race this weekend. I typically don't like to fool with my bike in the days before a race since something can go wrong and there won't be time to correct the problem before the race.

Working on my bike would be much easier if I had a bike workstand. In fact, working on any bike is easier with a workstand because you don't have to wrestle and fight with the bike as you are trying to work on it. That will probably be my next big purchase. I often use my trunk rack as a stand, but it has its limitations.


My first order of business was to detach the housings and give the cables a good cleaning and a healthy dose of lube.


This is an easy fix for slow shifting and a good opportunity to check the cables for fraying.


After dealing with the cables, I cleaned and lubed the chain, lubed all the pivots and and cleaned the derailleurs. I also decided to tackle a sticky brake lever. For this, I just removed the adjustment screw and popped out a small cylinder that holds the adjustment screw in place. Once out, this allowed me to clean all the grit from inside the lever.


When I finished working on the bike, I gave the frame a good washing and now she's ready to get dirty again. :)

Just Not Feeling It

I went out to Clear Creek today for what was supposed to be a brisk 30-mile (3 lap) ride, but settled for 20 miles for two reasons: (1) It started raining just as I was finishing my second lap and didn‘t want to chance it. (2) I just wasn’t feeling it today.

The weather couldn’t have been better for mountain biking with partly cloudy skies and temperatures hovering in the low 70’s. Despite such perfect conditions, I slept until nine and still felt tired when I finally made it to the sofa only to wrap myself in a blanket cocoon until close to eleven o’clock.

My lack of energy could be from a shortage of sleep. For some reason, I’m waking up in the middle of the night and building up a hideous sleep debt that has to be paid back at some point. Perhaps it’s the economy going bump in the night keeping me up or my body trying to adjust to the time change. Maybe it’s all the garbage I‘ve eaten lately. I hate to admit this, but I’ve subsisted on microwave meals and Pop-Tarts for the last week. Yeah, I remember my New Year resolution to eat healthier, and I’ve made some progress with it. However, I’ve been pressed for time lately and simply fell off the Iron Chef bandwagon.

Even with a low battery, I enjoyed my ride and got to check out some of the new trail improvements.

This is the new dip just before the big switchback. Whoosh!


The top of the big switchback. It might look easy, but it will bite you on the butt if you are not careful.


This is the first turn on the switchback. Don't let it fool you. This thing has teeth.


Looking down from the top of the dip up to the first turn.